FOR ENTREPRENEURS: There are many consultants, trainers, gurus, coaches and mentors that offer free and paid training and courses on how to start, build, and grow a business.

We strive to be more successful, as an entrepreneur. We are often in mastermind groups. It is also highly recommended to have a coach, mentor, or ‘guru’ guide your success.

Successful speaker and internet marketing pioneer, E. Brian Rose (no relation as his real name is Eric Brian Rosenberg) has categorized your prospects and customers into these four different categories. Those categories are (1) the Curious, (2) the Joiners, (3) the Addicts, and (4) the Action Takers. Who you work with, provide answers to questions, communicate with and allow your time to be “spent” with will either make or kill your business. Sort quickly and choose wisely.

The Curious are the ones that seek knowledge. They want to see what is behind the curtain. They want to know how the magic trick is done, even if they have no intention of ever becoming a magician themselves. This crowd usually has a nine to five job, but sees Internet marketing as a side interest and they want to become as knowledgeable about it as possible. Many folks in this category probably have acquired enough know how to successfully start their own marketing business and do away with their J-O-B, but they won’t. Perhaps they have a spouse that is discouraging them from taking the leap or maybe they simply do not possess the entrepreneur spirit needed to take such a leap. Either way, the guru is doing them a service by providing information they are seeking, even if it is just for entertainment purposes.

The Joiners are people that love being a part of the marketing community, but rarely do anything to start or build upon their own business. They are usually very well versed in the subject of marketing and they spend a good bit of their day on various chat forums and Facebook groups. Some are so well versed that they are able to give a great deal of good advice to other members of the community. Often times, these are the cockiest of the guru’s customers. They are so knowledgeable that they arrogantly point out the errors of active marketers and, sometimes, even berate newbies seeking advice in the forums. A good number of the guru’s Joiners are well respected for the advice they give, so well respected that they could probably have a following of cash paying customers of their own, but they don’t and probably won’t.

The Addicts make up a big percentage of the guru’s business. I compare these people to addicted gamblers. They are constantly on the lookout for a ‘winning lottery ticket’ or that lucky slot machine. Addicts will buy product after product, hoping the next one will be their ticket to fame and success. The truth is the folks in this group will never succeed and the guru knows it. They lack something that keeps them from taking action. Some are ignorant and just hoping the mere purchase of a hot marketing tutorial will somehow be all it takes to bring in the wealth. Others are lazy and are looking for some sort of fairy dust that will magically create a business for them. The human side of the guru would like to see these people get over whatever mental block is holding these people back, but the business side of the guru is glad they exist, as they are almost free money with little activity or time demand for the guru.

The Action Takers are the guru’s pride and joy. They make up a small percentage of the guru’s customer base, but there are enough of them to show that the guru’s products produce results. These are the people that take the guru’s content and run like the wind with it. They create businesses, based on the guru’s instruction, and they make money hand over fist. They also do a great service for the guru; they endorse him. The guru’s successful students very proud to say where they received their knowledge. They blog about it. They talk in chat forums about it. They post positive reviews about it. The Action Takers are the people that allow the guru to sleep well at night. The success of this group is the proof the guru needs to know that he is truly offering something of value.

For every the guru on the Internet, there are millions of followers that fall into one of the four customer categories.